community

Don’t Miss This Exciting Time to Build Community With Your Neighbors

Laity| Youth | Families
August 08, 2023•3 min read

It is back-to-school season – a time of launches, starts, restarts, and acquiring new routines for many.  Cooler weather will arrive soon and before we know it there will be Friday night football games and bonfires. It is also a natural season to kick off new programs and ministries in the life of the church. 

 As our neighbors are settling into their new routines, don’t miss out on this new season filled with new opportunities and possibilities.  In a world filled with people experiencing loneliness and desiring a sense of community,  the church has an opportunity to step out into their community in this season of launches and restarts.  The church is in a perfect position to offer hope, relationships, encouragement, and community.  

 Notice there is the distinction to challenge the church to step out – not invite, attract, or expect the neighbors to come in.  This may be a shift for some churches and even a bit uncomfortable for other churches.  Jesus modeled this type of “stepping out” ministry offering most of His ministry outside the Temple (i.e. woman at the well, tax collectors, Good Samaritan, eating with commoners).

 As we step out into our communities, we must step out in ways that are meaningful, impactful, authentic, and demonstrate we truly care about the well-being of our neighbors.  The purpose of reaching out is not to gain new members or grow the offering plate collection.  The purpose is to build new, meaningful relationships with the neighbors.  In order to do this, we must start with their needs, desires, preferences, and interests in mind instead of our own.  Too often the church starts with insider focus and ideas.  We must evert our thinking and our doing to start and end in different places.

 What is missing in your neighborhood that your church can (or is being called to) provide?  What problem needs to be solved in your community that your church can bring people together to solve?  What kind of activity would your neighbors love to participate in but there is currently no space to host the activity?  The church doesn’t always have to be the initiator of brand new ideas or events.  What’s already going on in your neighborhood that you can help promote, grow, and support?  You will likely need to get out into your community to find out what’s going on and how to best connect with your neighbors.  First and foremost, don’t sit in a church meeting room and make decisions about reaching the community without asking them first!

 Fall is the perfect time to connect with your neighbors as people recalibrate their routines.  Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to build authentic relationships with your community!  If your church is looking for resources to help equip you for this season, consider these options: 

community
Kay’s purpose is to Equip and Empower Leaders of Faith Communities How to Engage in More Effective Ministry. Kay Kotan is the founder of You Unlimited (coaching, consulting and training company) and The Greatest Expedition – a collaboration of more than twenty thought leaders providing resources and insights for a congregational journey to develop new MAPS (ministry action plans) to reach new people in your community.  Kay also launched Multipliers’ Movement – a gathering of kingdom multipliers for sharing, equipping, and encouraging. She is a CoachU and Advanced CoachU Graduate, an accredited coach (PCC: Professional Certified Coach) with the ICF, International Coaching Federation, a Certified Path 1 Coach, and once served on the faculty at Coaching4Clergy. As a passionate lay person, she has a banking background and has been a business owner for more than 25 years. Kotan has served as a church developer for conferences and worked with churches, pastors, conferences, and judicatory leaders across the country for more than a decade. She is most proud to be the wife of Bob for over 30 years and the mother of their adult son, Cameron. Kay is the author of multiple books, workbooks, and resources including Gear Up: Nine Essential Processes for the Optimized Church, Cry From the Pew, Full Schedules, Barren Souls, Being the Church in the Post Pandemic World, and Journey Preparation: Surveying Your Church’s Landscape, as well as the co-author of the books titled: IMPACT!: Reclaiming the Call of Lay Ministry, Small Church Check-Up, Insights on Productivity, Renovate or Die – Ten Ways to Focus Your Church on Mission, Ministry 3.0 and Get Their Name , Ten Prescriptions for a Healthy Church, Necessary Nine – Nine Things Effective Pastors Do Differently, Launching Leaders: Taking Leadership Development to New Heights, Strategy Matters: Your Roadmap to Planning a Strategic Ministry Planning Retreat, Voices of Christmas: A Daily Devotional for Advent and Expanding the Expedition Reach Through Marketplace Multipliers. Mission Possible for the Small Church. Inside Out: Everting Ministry Models for the Postmodern Church, and more. Kotan and her co-author Bradford published their third version of the best-seller, Mission Possible: Simple Structure for Missional Effectiveness. Mrs. Kotan spends her time investing in pastors, laity leaders, congregations, and judicatory leaders through equipping, coaching, and creating resources to help them discover and live into their fullest missional potential of effectiveness and fruitfulness to reach people for Jesus Christ. Through her enthusiasm, truth-telling, and passion, she challenges those who encounter her in both their thinking and their doing.

Kay Kotan

Kay’s purpose is to Equip and Empower Leaders of Faith Communities How to Engage in More Effective Ministry. Kay Kotan is the founder of You Unlimited (coaching, consulting and training company) and The Greatest Expedition – a collaboration of more than twenty thought leaders providing resources and insights for a congregational journey to develop new MAPS (ministry action plans) to reach new people in your community.  Kay also launched Multipliers’ Movement – a gathering of kingdom multipliers for sharing, equipping, and encouraging. She is a CoachU and Advanced CoachU Graduate, an accredited coach (PCC: Professional Certified Coach) with the ICF, International Coaching Federation, a Certified Path 1 Coach, and once served on the faculty at Coaching4Clergy. As a passionate lay person, she has a banking background and has been a business owner for more than 25 years. Kotan has served as a church developer for conferences and worked with churches, pastors, conferences, and judicatory leaders across the country for more than a decade. She is most proud to be the wife of Bob for over 30 years and the mother of their adult son, Cameron. Kay is the author of multiple books, workbooks, and resources including Gear Up: Nine Essential Processes for the Optimized Church, Cry From the Pew, Full Schedules, Barren Souls, Being the Church in the Post Pandemic World, and Journey Preparation: Surveying Your Church’s Landscape, as well as the co-author of the books titled: IMPACT!: Reclaiming the Call of Lay Ministry, Small Church Check-Up, Insights on Productivity, Renovate or Die – Ten Ways to Focus Your Church on Mission, Ministry 3.0 and Get Their Name , Ten Prescriptions for a Healthy Church, Necessary Nine – Nine Things Effective Pastors Do Differently, Launching Leaders: Taking Leadership Development to New Heights, Strategy Matters: Your Roadmap to Planning a Strategic Ministry Planning Retreat, Voices of Christmas: A Daily Devotional for Advent and Expanding the Expedition Reach Through Marketplace Multipliers. Mission Possible for the Small Church. Inside Out: Everting Ministry Models for the Postmodern Church, and more. Kotan and her co-author Bradford published their third version of the best-seller, Mission Possible: Simple Structure for Missional Effectiveness. Mrs. Kotan spends her time investing in pastors, laity leaders, congregations, and judicatory leaders through equipping, coaching, and creating resources to help them discover and live into their fullest missional potential of effectiveness and fruitfulness to reach people for Jesus Christ. Through her enthusiasm, truth-telling, and passion, she challenges those who encounter her in both their thinking and their doing.

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